C3A1'. IV. 



MARKING OF SHEEP. 



527 



rolling proceeds. When arrived at the shoulders, the wool of the fore 

 part should be rolled back to meet the other, instead of having the 

 binder twisted thence in the usual manner, and the whole secured by a 

 pack-cord in the common way in which parcels are tied. Thns the 

 fleece is kept much tighter together, and unfolds itself with more 

 regularity under the hand of the sorter, who is otherwise much incon- 

 venienced "by the confusion or breaking of those parts of the fleece 

 which, in the common method, are twisted together for the band. 



The idea of getting more than one wool crop in the year has long 

 since been abandoned. 



Fig. 134. Burgon & Ball's Sheep-Shearing Machine. 



Lambs are in the South of England occasionally clipped a short time 

 after the rest of the flock : but they are not as a rule shorn until the second 

 year. The wool of the hoggets thus acquires a great length of staple, or, 

 a longer nip. It is chiefly used in the manufacture of shawls ; it com- 

 mands a higher price than the other qualities, and is of great importance 

 to the proprietors of short-woolled flocks. After sheep have been 

 clipped, it is usual to mark them with ochre, raddle, or other colouring 

 matter ; but, as it is sometimes difficult to wash the stains of these sub- 

 atances out of the wool, a composition of finely-pulverized charcoal, or 



